


Kick Harder

by girl_wonder



Category: Inception (2010), Leverage
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-28
Updated: 2011-05-28
Packaged: 2017-10-19 20:58:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girl_wonder/pseuds/girl_wonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She's coming," Cobb said. "But she's bringing in another architect."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kick Harder

"I know who we need," Eames said.

Cobb's whole body turned and he tightened his left hand into a fist. For a moment, Ariadne was sure he was going to take a swing, but then Eames took a step back and held a hand up, palm open.

"You know it, too."

Eames opened his mouth to say something else, but Arthur interrupted him. "We need another forger. We can either use Sophie or we can use someone else."

"Fine." Cobb nodded once, and turned back to the board. "We'll get Sophie."

*****

"There are some things you don't trust a phone for," Arthur said, shortly, when Ariadne asked why both Eames and Cobb went to London.

"And Sophie likes Eames more than Cobb," she guessed.

Arthur didn't disagree, instead winding cables together, packing up the chemicals efficiently. He treated everything like equipment, compared to Cobb's reverence and Eames's casual efficiency.

"I need you to build a shortcut into the bank," he said. "A door that goes straight to the vault."

The complexity of jobs was like juggling in a circus. She was never quite certain how many knives she'd have in the air at any one time, how many she could let other people have without dropping one. Arthur wanted a back door that no one can no about, Eames wanted another drop, Cobb wanted to know everything when he knew that it would fall apart if anyone knew too much.

*****

"Is she coming?" Arthur asked when they got back. It was a short trip, almost 24 hours exactly to get from London to Cardiff, talk to Sophie and return.

"She's coming," Cobb said. "But she's bringing in another architect."

Ariadne stared, one hand holding a piece of the maquette for the first level dream. "But-"

"Don't worry, darling," Eames leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "You're still _the_ architect. This is just _a_ architect."

"When is she arriving?" Arthur asked.

"Right after we did," Cobb checked his watch, frowned. "Now, probably."

*****

"Who is she?" Ariadne asked, gluing a piece of wood to her model. The wall curled in on itself until it would disappear with a door back to the beginning.

"Sophie Devereaux," Eames said, playing with a pair of scissors. "She's a forger. Almost as good as me. She used to be an art thief."

A pair of heels approached, and Eames turned towards the sound. "And she's brilliant. Stunning when she's being someone else."

"Thank you, darling," Sophie said with a smile. She looked European, glossy and perfect. The type of French woman that used to annoy Ariadne when she was in school.

Ariadne wondered who taught who that _darling_ , the tilt of it, affectionate and teasing and - until now - always feeling genuine.

"Where's your architect?" Cobb asked. He had his arms crossed and was not quite glaring at Sophie.

"That door won't work," someone said, right next to Ariadne's ear.

Ariadne startled, knocking over her maquette, as she turned to get a look at whoever was behind her. The woman was tiny and thin, her blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. It didn't do anything for her narrow nose, high cheekbones.

"Parker," Sophie said, her tone censorious. She turned to Cobb. "This is Parker. She's my architect."

*****

"We can't use Parker's subconscious," Sophie said. Her accent was English, posh and polished. Ariadne watched out of the corner of her eye as Eames' lips moved, sounding out a vowel silently.

She wondered how many of them he could forge. Did he have a copy of her on hand in his subconscious somewhere? Was he just waiting for the job when he'd need a college aged girl, attractive but not memorable, smart but not threatening?

"You want her to check the integrity of the dream, she and Ariadne go in," Cobb said. He was holding a black whiteboard marker in one hand, uncapped.

Ariadne said, "Why can't we use Parker's subconscious?"

No one answered her question and Sophie raised an eyebrow before turning back to Cobb. Everyone was still, even Eames, who sat with his leg crossed ankle to knee.

"I'll go in, you can blindfold me if you're so concerned," Sophie said. " _Or_ I can use it as time to practice the girlfriend."

"I don't want you seeing the dream until you're in," Cobb said. "It's a delicate job."

"And I'm not in until Parker's seen it." Sophie stood, and Parker appeared silently beside her. "Arthur, it was lovely to see you. Eames, let's do lunch before I leave town."

She swept out, her handbag hanging from the corner of her elbow. She left behind a scent, and it seemed odd to Ariadne how vivid dreams were - scent, taste, feel - and how bland reality was in comparison.

"Why can't we use Parker's subconscious?" Ariadne asked again.

Eames was staring after the two of them. Outside, a car started and its motor gunned. Tires shrieked.

"Parker's insane," Arthur said. He was erasing part of the plan, the part that needed a second forger. "I didn't think she worked with anyone else."

"Apparently now she does." Cobb turned the marker in his hand, once, twice. There was a hole in the plan, now. The second level needed the girlfriend and the boyfriend and Cobb didn't want to count on a projection. "We need another forger."

"I can make some calls," Eames said, pulling out a small black book. "Marcus Starke? He's been doing some good work. Of course, he does tend to work point man now more than forgery. He might try to push you out of a job, Arthur."

Arthur rolled his eyes and said, "Sophie's the best."

"I take offense at that," Eames said, but he was grinning.

"Go in with her," Arthur said. "See if she can do the girlfriend with other people in the dream."

Cobb nodded once, face still blank. "If Parker twitches, I want you to give everyone a kick," he said to Ariadne.

*****

The dream was a small apartment. Four rooms: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room. Ariadne had paid attention to all of the details that were important - the rough texture of the rug and the cool feel of the sheets.

Sophie sat in the middle of the floor, looking at herself in a hand mirror. The reflection was of someone else and when Ariadne glanced back, the girlfriend was sitting on the floor, legs akimbo. Sophie extended her legs and then reached to the side.

It took a moment, but Ariadne realized she was doing yoga. The girlfriend was a yoga instructor, but-

There was a knock on the door and Ariadne walked to open it. It opened to the hallway where Parker and Cobb stood. Cobb looked calm. Parker was dressed all in black, including a pair of gloves. She had on climbing gear.

"This is good," Cobb said.

"What's at the end of the hallway?" Parker asked, but even as she did, she sprinted for the door marked 'Stairs' and slammed into it - and sprinted into the living room from the bathroom.

"Clean paradox," she said. Turning, she walked back into the bathroom and looked around, feeling the walls.

When she tried climbing down from the window, she found herself in the kitchen, scaling the refrigerator. Ariadne tried to hide her smirk.

Sophie began doing a series of progressively more complicated positions before relaxing flat onto the ground. Parker lay down next to Sophie and whispered in her ear.

"I'm in," Sophie said, sitting up. Parker stood, extending her hand to help Sophie up. Then she reached behind her, pulled a handgun and shot Sophie in the face.

*****

"What the _fuck_?" Ariadne said, holding her elbow where Arthur had pulled the IV. Parker was already standing, rolling her shoulders.

"We needed a kick," Parker said. Sophie was rubbing the bridge of her nose and Parker crouched down to eye level, removed the IV carefully.

"I want to see what Parker can do," Cobb said. He was sitting on the edge of his lawn chair, fingers laced.

"That wasn't our deal," Sophie said, but she sounded tired.

"You saw our architect, I want to see yours." Cobb was unwinding cables and setting them down.

Sophie looked at Parker and Parker shrugged, stood and sat back down on her chair.

"Alright," Sophie said. She lay back down. "Five minutes."

*****

Parker's dream was an art museum. She was still dressed in black, a mesh harness around her waist.

Ariadne was impressed. "This is amazing. Is it a real place?"

"No," Parker said. She stood in front of the Mona Lisa and pointed. "This never leaves the Louvre and that Van Gough is at the Getty."

Sophie's projections were all calmly walking from painting to painting. They didn't even look at Parker or Ariadne.

"They're marks," Parker said, quietly. "Don't stare at them. They're dumb and slow, but they're all dangerous."

Parker pulled a carabiner from a pocket and neatly tied a knot on it.

"Is that your totem?" Ariadne asked. They moved through the exhibit, waiting for Sophie and Cobb to find them.

"No," Parker said. "I don't have a totem."

"What?" Ariadne asked. "I thought-"

A projection turned, frowned a little, like he was confused.

Ariadne lowered her voice. "You don't use a totem?"

The dream extended and extended and extended. Parker was walking them to the roof.

"No," Parker said. She bumped open the security door with her hip and pointed at a circular vent near the top of the stairs. "That opens to the ventilation system - it's a shortcut straight to the Mona Lisa."

On the roof, Sophie and Cobb were standing close together, talking. Sophie said, "It's beautiful, Parker."

"Kick," Parker said and took a running leap off the edge of the building.

*****

"She doesn't use a totem," Ariadne said.

Arthur looked up from his Chinese food. After a moment, he put the chopsticks down and looked at Eames. "Cobb wants her to dream one of the levels. He thinks she's good."

"Well, Sophie does have the best taste. Unlike some crews who worked with architects like Nash." Eames gestured with his fork. "Sophie would never put her own life in danger. She's too smart for that."

*****

Teaching dreams was easier with Parker than it had ever been with anyone, even Cobb. She looked around the office, nodding, "This is good. I'll put a paradox there and we can do the drop with that."

She was pointing to the scaffolding outside.

Silently, she walked over to the window and Ariadne moved around the office, startled when she saw Mal sitting at a desk, looking at her own reflection in a hand mirror. Ariadne blinked, found a gun in her hand and raised it to Mal's head when Parker suddenly strode in close and shoved the gun up towards the ceiling.

It went off harmlessly, a florescent lamp exploding and the projections all turning to stare. Parker elbowed her hard and took the gun from her hands.

When Ariadne looked back, it was Sophie with the mirror, a slightly surprised look on her face. "So you have met her," Sophie said.

She snapped her mirror shut.

*****

Arthur was learning the dream and she walked him through the boundaries, where she'd set up paradoxes and how she'd used repetition to make it seem bigger.

"Why doesn't Cobb like Sophie?" she asked, suddenly.

Knocking on a wall, Arthur said, "I'm going to make this hollow."

"Sure," Ariadne said. "I saw Sophie being Mal. I thought Mal was back, but... she wasn't."

Arthur raised an eyebrow and knocked on the wall in a different place, looking for a stud.

"Sophie was Mal's friend," Arthur said. "They got along."

"And she didn't do anything when Mal went crazy?" Ariadne asked. She decided the room needed a different desk and then tugged at the wall like she was turning a page and revealed the new furniture.

"Sophie's the only one who could pull off Mal," Arthur said. He looked around the room one last time.

She imagined someone coming in to play Mal after Cobb had finally exorcised that demon. "That's... scary."

Snorting, Arthur said, "Yeah."

*****

Parker never dreamed by herself. Ariadne had caught the others - even Arthur - dreaming by themselves. Hooked up to an IV, alone in the dark. When you'd shared a dream, you understood what it was like to control your actions. It was harder and harder to have no control over your own dreams.

Ariadne was on a ship, then a plane, then the plane flooded with water and she woke up. She kept trying to change the dream while she was in it, move a wall, make a door, find a kick. But there was no PASIV, just her bed and a pillow.

Parker was watching her, knees pulled up to her chin. "Don't worry so much about it. Organic dreams are like a vacation."

"How did you get into my apartment?" Ariadne asked.

"You should buy better locks," Parker said. She moved to the window and was gone.

Quickly, Ariadne pulled her totem from under her pillow and pushed it over and over and over until it was morning and Arthur was knocking at her door, wondering why she'd missed the meeting.

*****

Sophie blinked when Ariadne asked about it.

"Parker's different," she said, lining her lip with a dusky rose color. "Parker's special."

"She's a good architect," Ariadne said, blandly. "But she can't be the subject?"

With a smile, Sophie said, "You might want to rest, we have a big day tomorrow."

*****

Flattening herself against a wall, Parker waited for the guards to pass, her hand warm where it pressed Ariadne back into the brickwork.

"Does it matter if it's real or a dream?" Parker asked, suddenly. "That's why I never do anything in a dream I wouldn't do in real life."

Ariadne stared at her. "Shit."

Letting Ariadne up, Parker clipped her harness to the ropes and said, "It makes more sense that way."

Reaching out, she clipped Ariadne's harness to her own and then threw the rest of the rope over the rail. "Close your eyes."

Ariadne didn't and felt her stomach bottom out with fear, but the rope held and they landed safely.

"We used to work with a team," Parker said.

Against the wall, Ariadne threw up.

"They forgot what was a dream and reality. Kind of. I think it mattered too much to them," Parker said. "Duck."

She pushed them both down flat before bullets exploded through the window.

*****

Parker watched as Ariadne tipped the pawn over and over. It always fell right and Ariadne didn't need to look up to see Cobb spinning his top once, twice, three times.

Sophie had only needed to flip open her pocket watch once.

"It's over," Parker said, when Ariadne set the piece up again.

Holding two briefcases, Sophie said, "Let's go, Parker."

Quickly, Parker leaned over to Ariadne's ear, "A totem only proves you aren't in someone else's dream. You could always be in your own."

Then she stood, taking one of the cases from Sophie and following her out.

"Well," Eames said. "Let's never do that again. That woman is insane."

*****

The chill from her open window startled Ariadne awake and she reached for her totem automatically. Nothing was under her pillow and she turned on the light, searching behind her bed before gold caught her eye on the far side of her beside table.

Two identical pawns sat side by side.

"No," she said, aloud.

Tentatively, she reached over to push both of them; one didn't fall and the other fell wrong, swinging in lazy counter clockwise circles where it had fallen.

There was a note underneath.

_Get better locks._

*****

end


End file.
